What You Least Expect
by Silver Wolf16
Summary: Swift Heart Rabbit is about to train for the annual Obstacle Course Race...but her past is about to revisit her in both good and bad ways. And what she finds is the last thing she expected to..Story Complete
1. Chapter 1

The alarm clock wouldn't stop. That was just the first omen that this day was going to be like no other in her life.

Never mind that Swift Heart Rabbit didn't know that when her blue eyes opened for the first time that day. Far as she was concerned, this was the morning she needed to train for the annual Care Bear Obstacle Course. Not that she REALLY needed to--she'd won for the last ten years running, losing only once because of her own overconfidence. Fortunately for all of Care-A-Lot, Lotsa Heart Elephant won by a trunk.

Her paw reached over for the snooze button on her alarm clock, pushing it down, a muffled groan coming from under the blanket as she realized the blasted thing wasn't going to respond to her. Tossing the blanket aside, she turned about a quarter turn on her bed, paws coming to rest on the floor of her room.

"What's with this thing today?" she muttered as she picked up the clock from her nightstand. "Seems this button is stuck...that's strange. Oh well, I'll have Bright Heart look at it later. Right now, I gotta get ready to train."

Pressing the snooze button one last time, the clock finally stopped beeping. "Whew..thought that thing was never gonna stop..." she mused as she headed for the shower.

Sighing to herself--she'd had to wake up one hour later than she'd wanted to because as luck would have it, this year's race fell on the day after her birthday--she turned on the shower and stepped inside.

Of course, her sleep-fogged mind realized one second too late that cold water comes out of the shower first. With a yelp that could have been heard about halfway across the Forest of Feelings, she squealed. "Whoa there...liiiiiitle bit too cold..." she said, wincing as she recovered from the shock of the water hitting her fur. After a minute or two, though, steam began curling from the top of the window and she stepped back in, scrub brush in paw.

As she washed up, she started idly humming a tune she'd heard back during a mission on Earth. It reminded her of home--not the Forest of Feelings, but where she was born, the home she'd never known except for briefly in her life. A home that, until recently, she hadn't even really remembered except in a fragmented memory.

Not until that mission did she remember...

_I remembered that day...that day I lost everything I had left to me...Mom and Dad hadn't survived the winter and me and my sister were having to make it on our own..and I wasn't but maybe three years old at the time...That day at the river...I remembered my sister and I being chased by a wolf...we got separated when I fell off a tree and into the water...and I never saw her again..._

Her eyes snapped open for a moment, then closed and she hung her head. "I couldn't do anything...I was too young, too weak...too vulnerable..." She shook her head. "No sense dwelling on the past, though. Still..."

She stepped out of the shower and dried off, then stepped outside. "Think I'll go down and train on Earth...a little fresh air might do me good, and besides, I'm a country girl at heart."

She took a walk towards the telescope to see what looked like a good spot to start. "Hmm, nothing...hey, wait..."

Something caught her eye and she froze...even to the speed of her vision it was a blur rushing by. A blur not unlike herself.

"Wait...can it really...?" She shook her head. "No, that's impossible...is it?" She checked the telescope again, just in case it was wishful thinking or her memories deceiving her.

And there it was again, right before her eyes.

"Where...?" She fumbled for the portable GPS locator that Bright Heart had made for all Care Bears that were going on Earth-bound missions, just to insure they never got lost. Finding it, she plugged the coordinates from the telescope into the locator and punched up the location.

Her heart skipped a beat and her breath caught at the display that came up on the locator.

LOCATION: UNITED STATES, CARBON HILL, AL

"That...can't be...that's my hometown...or at least, the forest around it. But how...?"

Just then, one of the other Care Bears walked by. "Well, good morning, Swift Heart...something wrong? You look like you've just seen a ghost."

"Well...in a matter of speaking, I think I have..." She turned to see who it was addressing her. It was True Heart Bear, co-founder of the Care Bear Family.

"I don't understand."

"True Heart, did you know I had a sister?"

"Well, no...when we found you, you had just washed up from a river...alone..."

"Wait...you found me in a river? Then..."

"Yes..you were just barely clinging to life...and for about a day after we found you, you were calling out a name...we had no clue who, though...who you were talking about..."

"What name was it?"

"Rhiannon..."

"That's my sister...were you ever able to find her?"

"No, we didn't have time. Remember, Dark Heart was following our every move and we had to act fast...why do you ask?"

"Because...I think I found her...see, the day you found me, we were out getting some food when we were attacked by a wolf...while we were running I fell into a river and we got separated."

"I see...then why don't you go find out?"

"I want to, but..."

"But...?"

"True Heart, what if I'm mistaken and it's not her? I...I don't want to be disappointed...after all, I do miss my sister, though I don't talk about it much. Since that day, I've just tried to lose myself in competing in things like the Obstacle Race and all sorts of things...just to keep myself from remembering. But, a couple months ago I went on a mission near my birthplace and it all came flooding back..."

"I see. After all, it did take you a couple of days to return. Noble Heart and I had wondered what was taking you so long. Now I understand. But, Swift Heart...you have to understand something. " She sat down on a bench and sighed.

"Whether or not it is her, you have to go and find out the truth, no matter what that truth is. If you don't do this, you'll spend the rest of your life wondering."

"I guess you're right...maybe I'm just scared. But I gotta go, and besides, it's a good place to train for the race. So..."

True Heart held up a paw. "Go on, Swift Heart. And remember, no matter what happens, you always have your family here in Care-A-Lot and the Forest of Feelings. And you always will, forever, no matter where your path takes you. Be safe, and I hope that you return soon."

Somewhere in the forest surrounding the sleepy Alabama town where she was born into the world, Swift Heart emerged in a flash of multicolored light, courtesy of the Rainbow Rescue Beam.

"Ten years and I STILL haven't gotten used to that..." she muttered, taking out a compass from her purse as well as her locator, checking where she came down against the coordinates she'd still kept stored in its memory. Seeing that they were nearly a perfect match, give or take twenty feet, she called out into the misty morning air.

"Rhiannon...is that you?"

Nothing responded at first. She called out twice more. Hearing nothing, her ears drooped a little bit and she sighed. "Perhaps I was wrong..." she muttered.

A rustling in the brush punctured the silence and her ears perked back up, blue eyes scanning around her alertly. Ten years hadn't dulled her alertness in the slightest.

Her eyes picked up a blur of motion--about two seconds before it ran full speed into her and both her and the unidentified blur rolled head over tail into a tree.

"That's me...but...who are you?"

Swift Heart looked up at the reddish furred rabbit that stared down at her. She had brown eyes, a white tuft of a tail as well as accenting the tips of her ears, and stood about a foot taller than her. "Don't you recognize me?"

"I don't...wait...you do seem sorta familiar."

"I should..."

The older rabbit stepped back a step or two to get a better look at the other rabbit she'd blindsided--and blinked. "If you aren't the spitting image of myself...but how...I mean, I did have a sister, but that was years ago, and she got lost in the river...I haven't seen her since..."

Then she blinked again, eyes wide in disbelief. "You can't be...Chrissie?"

Swift Heart chuckled a bit, then nodded. "I haven't gone by that name in years, but yes."

"Oh my..." Rhiannon pounced on her long-lost sister. "Where in blazes have you been? What happened to you? And what's happened with you since? And what's that on yer tummy?"

"Well, we have a lot to catch up on now do we?" she answered, her eyes misting over with tears, albeit tears of joy at finding a piece of herself that she'd thought gone forever.

"Don't mind the mess in here, sis...I never was a great housekeeper." Rhiannon mused with a chucked as both rabbits entered her modest den.

"I wouldn't mind it if the place were crowded with junk, I'm just happy to have my sister back after all these years." Swift Heart replied.

"Chrissie, you have no idea...you don't know how many nights I stayed awake wondering where you were or what happened to you, whether or not you were still alive, or anything. I looked all over this state for you...for years and years, until I couldn't look anymore...then I just prayed and prayed, never once giving up...and now here you are..."

Swift Heart couldn't say a word--anything and everything she'd thought of to prepare herself for this moment just vanished from her mind.

"How did you find me though?"

"Well, it wasn't hard to spot that blur moving through the forest..."

Rhiannon just laughed. "Point taken. But you still haven't explained that symbol there on your tummy. What's that supposed to mean? And what's with what yer calling yourself now?"

Swift Heart thought for a moment, then chuckled. "I could spend days and days explaining this to you, or just simply take you with me to where I live now and show you..."

"I think I just might take you up on that, but we gotta wait til later..."

"Later?"

"Well...yeah, I gotta wait for the old man to get back with the kids so I can let him know I'm going off for a while..."

"You mean you have a family?"

"Oh yes...'bout three years ago in fact. Met the cutest guy in the forest...settled down and had a couple kids. Cutest things in the world too...they mean so much to me..."

"I see..."

"But don't ever forget, Chrissie, so do you. And another reason I wanna wait til later is don't you want to see your old hometown too? I mean, it's been a while hasn't it?"

"Well, yeah...but I do come down here from time to time. I just thought..."

"Yeah, it is pretty backwoods here, even for us. So I don't blame you for not coming by sooner. And for all you knew, I was dead. I feared you were too but like I said, I wouldn't allow myself to give up..."

Swift Heart nodded. "I understand..."

"Well, what about you? Surely you must have someone back where you are waiting for you..."

She hadn't expected THAT remark, so she blushed and shook her head. "Well, not yet..."

"Oh, give it time, sis, it'll come. Sometimes, it comes from the place where you least expect it at the last time you'd expect it to. But, there's someone out there for everyone...even you."

"You really think so?"

"I don't think, Chrissie--I know so."

"Thanks, Rhiannon."

"Oh you don't have to thank me. We're family, and that's what we're here for. I'm just thankful there was someone to take care of you all this time, and I'd really like to meet whoever it is so I can thank them myself."

"You will...but speaking of family...what is it like to have to raise your own?"

"Sometimes, it's a major chore...I just wanna tear my hair out and scream. But then I remember why I fell in love with the guy and why I decided to raise a family with him, and the wonderful children we have together, and somehow, it's all worth it. And one day it's gonna be hard seeing them grow up and leaving home, but I just gotta remember I raised them right. And pray for the best. "

"I see..."

"You'll understand more when you have your own someday..."

Swift Heart blushed at the thought. "Eh...I'm more of a competitor...I don't know if I'll have the time to settle down and raise a family."

Rhiannon chuckled. "Guess you really do take after your sis huh...I was just like that too...and probably for the same reasons you are--to try and move forward with my life after you disappeared."

Swift Heart nodded, as she was right on the money. "I know..."

"I didn't think for a minute that I'd have the time or the energy to settle down. But, I learned that my mate and my family give me the strength to carry on when I thought I was just about to give in. I owe it to them too that I never gave up looking for you too...in my darkest moments, they carried me."

"I see...well, I'm here now, so don't worry so much, ok?"

"I know now I can sleep better at night knowing you're alive and well. And I can't wait to introduce your niece and nephew to you...when they get home that is..."

"I can't wait to see them..."

"And, well...hey, I know...want to go down by the river again? I know it might scare you, but before that day, you used to love going down there...just splashing your paws in the water and just enjoying yourself..."

She nodded, slightly uneasy, but knowing she'd have to face her fear of that day sometime. "Well, why not? Can't really hurt anything--and besides, I'm not three years old anymore and you're not six...we're both capable of defending ourselves this time if we get into a scrape, right?"

"Right. So, let's go."

The two sisters were sitting on the bank of that fateful river, paws resting in the water.

"So...tell me what it's like where you live, sis..." Rhiannon finally said at length.

"Well, there's just so much to see I'd have to show you myself..but I suppose we have time for a little bit of a heads up. I live above the clouds, far above the earth, in a place called Care-A-Lot...well, actually, just outside it in another place called the Forest of Feelings...it's a nice and pretty place..."

"I see...sounds really, really quiet up there. I guess it suits you well...you always did like it nice and peaceful..."

"Yeah...and for a long, long time it's the only home I knew. All I could remember of here was a bunch of memories, and not all in one piece..."

"Why?"

"I guess it's cuz I didn't wanna remember what happened to me and you all those years ago. I mean, I kept thinking about you, but I thought you were..."

"Dead, I know. You had no way of knowing if that wolf had gotten me or not. I don't blame you--even though I was too stubborn and too loyal to give up looking for you, part of me thought you were dead too..."

Swift Heart nodded. "Yeah...until I came back here a couple months ago on a mission..."

"Mission, huh? Exactly just what do ya do, sis?"

"Well, the goal of the Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins--that's what I am, by the way--is to spread joy and happiness and help people share their feelings. To accomplish that, sometimes we gotta come down to Earth to help the kids out..."

"I see...you mean the human children?"

"Yeah..."

"Aww...they can be so interesting...what I get to see of them around these parts anyway..."

"I know, I know...but they don't always know how to share their feelings. Also, No Heart chases us around trying to mess up our work..."

"Who's that?"

"An evil wizard whose sole purpose is to spread uncaring and evil across the world. In short, the opposite of everything we stand for..."

"He'd better watch out then...now that I'm around."

Swift Heart just chuckled. "That's my sis...always being the protective one."

"I can't help it, Chrissie...I'm yer big sister...I couldn't let anything happen to you...not now that we're finally back together..."

"I know, Rhiannon...but we're both grown now..."

She sighed. "I know, but we missed out on soooooooo much growing up...I wish so much you could have been there with me when the kids were born...my daughter so much reminds me of you when you were her age..."

"You remember me when I was that little?"

"Oh sure, Chrissie...you wasn't much more than a ball of blue fluff with a puffy tail and beady blue eyes...heh..."

They were both giggling when they heard a rustle in the bushes. Both rabbits froze at the sound, ears perked, eyes scanning about for any hint of danger.

"This...this is just like back then..." Swift Heart whispered.

'Yeah, well...I don't have any intentions of letting history repeat itself...be ready to run, though..."

"Uh huh..."

Suddenly a shape pushed its way out of the bush...rather awkwardly at that, and both rabbits trembled ever so slightly at the sight of it.

It was a wolf. Albeit, rather confused. But still, something they counted as the reason they got separated in the first place.

Rhiannon didn't waste a moment, rather, rushing at the confused lupine and shouting at the top of her voice. "GET OUT OF HERE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE ANYWAY? "

Swift Heart could only watch, still trembling at the sight of the wolf...although its response to her sister's pummeling was totally unexpected.

"Hey, hey...ow! Watch what you're doing...I didn't do anything..."

"That doesn't mean anything...you're just a big bad wolf...so just go on and find someone else to go pick on..."

"Hey, wait...pick on?" The wolf growled a bit and pushed her just far enough away so that it could back up a step or three. Now that Rhiannon wasn't trying to pummel it into submission, Swift Heart could see that it was a male wolf.

"Just what do you mean, pick on you? I was just looking for some food..."

"Yeah, us..."

"No, not really...see, I'm kind of strange...I don't eat meat..."

Rhiannon cocked her brow quizzically at the wolf. "Since when?"

"Since about ten years ago...my father swore himself and the rest of the pack off meat after something he'd done to a couple of innocents..."

"You're joking...just what are you trying to do?"

"Not a single thing...just telling you the truth, now may I be on my way?"

"Wait a minute, this just sounds too fishy to me. I haven't seen a wolf around here in ten years myself...so why now? Why would you come all the way out here?"

"Because there's something affecting our lands...nothing can grow out there. And I don't know what it is, all I know is that it's spreading."

"I still don't trust ya..." Rhiannon replied, her eyes still blazing with indignation. "And I'd just as soon you leave here and not show yer face around here ever again..."

"I can't expect you to trust me...but still..."

Swift Heart walked up to her sister, and boldly laid a paw on her shoulder. "Sis, can we talk for a moment?"

"We can talk, but I ain't taking my eyes off that wolf there..."

"I know this is going to sound absolutely ridiculous, but perhaps we should check this out for ourselves...if what he is saying is true, whatever it is may well wind up affecting you and your family...and I don't want that to happen. I'm not saying we should be buddies with him, but for the time being, we gotta take him at his word until we find out what's going on..."

Rhiannon stared at her sister for a moment, dumbfounded. "Chrissie...I don't know...he IS a wolf, after all...and what if this is just a trick to get him to let our guard down? I don't want to lose you again, sis..."

"You won't, Rhiannon...just trust me. " Swift Heart nodded, reassuringly, to her older sister.

She gave her a quizzical glance, then sighed. "All right. But ONLY until we find out what this is all about. After that, I'd be just as well rid of him for good..."

Swift Heart nodded again, then turned to the wolf. "We'll go with you to find out what's going on. But you have to promise us that we will have safe passage through your lands...and we're only sticking around to see what's going on. After that, we go our separate ways."

"I can't blame you...but thank you for your offer of assistance. I will escort you through our lands. You can speak with my father...he is the alpha male of our pack and perhaps he can offer some help. "

"Very well then, I guess it's a deal...um, I never did get your name..." Swift Heart responded.

"Glenn...and yours?"

"Well, she calls me Chrissie...but YOU can call me Swift Heart Rabbit. This is my older sister, Rhiannon..."

Surprisingly, the wolf gave a bow of his head in respectful greeting. "A pleasure to meet you both..."

"A pleasure indeed...can we just get going now?" Rhiannon inquired, a bit uneasy, more than a hint of sarcasm to her voice.

"Ah yes..maybe along the way, you will see that not all of my kind are bloodthirsty predators. We only hunted what we must to survive..."

"Yeah, yeah...why did it have to be us? Or our parents...or any one of us?"

"I cannot answer for ways that precede my time, Rhiannon...I can only speak for myself in the here and now. Perhaps, it would serve you well to allow the past to remain in the past. I assure you, my pack is peaceful...however..."

"What is it?"

"I cannot speak for the other packs in our lands. Some feel we are weak, even soft...that we have lost sight of the old ways..."

"Well, whatever. You might keep us safe, I'm willing to trust your word on that. But, only barely. If I even sense a HINT of danger in you, yer gonna hit the road. Got that?"

"Okay, you two." Swift Heart interceded. "Sis, I know you're trying to protect me, and Glenn, I'm willing to trust your word. But, at least for right now, only as far as she's willing to trust your word. If you want to prove otherwise to me, you're going to have to show me."

"I understand..." His green eyes met hers for only a fleeting moment. "I see some of your kind do possess honor...even if it is hard-won."

"Trust me, Glenn...I lost out on most of my life with my sister because of a wolf, and I'd rather not ever have that repeat itself again. I'm just as inclined as she is to just get this over with and then go our separate ways..."

"I see..." His gaze fell for only a moment before coming to rest on her again, something she found somewhat unnerving. Yet, at the same time, she found it intriguing. _What in Creation is his interest in me? _she thought.

"And just WHAT are you trying to say there, ya overgrown dog? That I don't have any honor?" Rhiannon snorted.

"No, what I meant is that SOME of your kind is willing to give me an honest chance to atone for the past. After all, I cannot be held accountable for something that I did not do..."

"Grr...sis, can we PLEASE get going?"

"All right, I guess..." She flipped out her locator and tapped a few commands on its touch screen, bringing up the communications function. "Swift Heart to True Heart..."

"This is True Heart, go ahead..."

"Hey listen, I'm gonna stay down here on Earth for a bit. Something is happening down here that's really strange and me and Rhiannon are gonna check it out..."

"Rhiannon?"

"Oh yeah, forgot. She's my sister."

"I understand. So you did get to meet her. For that, I am pleased. I understand your need to investigate the situation down there. We've been getting something down there too. We think it may be the work of No Heart, but..."

"But what?"

"This isn't like him...evil as he may be, it just doesn't make sense. Either he's having a major shift in tactics, or this is the work of something or someone else. As it was, I was just about to call you about this, since you were down there, but obviously, you've saved me the trouble."

"Small world isn't it..."

"Agreed. Keep in touch. True Heart out."

"Roger that. Swift Heart out." She flipped her locator closed, then turned to her companions on this journey. "Well, better get going..."

Rhiannon smiled at her sister and chuckled. "Someday you gotta get me one of those..."

Glenn, on the other hand, seemed positively astonished. "Just who and what are you, Swift Heart?"

"I'm a Care Bear Cousin...if you're nice to us, I might explain to you what that is and what I do...but for now, we just got a mission to complete and you two just got drafted as my partners in this. So we better get on our way."


	2. Chapter 2

"So, Glenn is it? Where exactly are your lands?"

"You don't know, Chrissie? Oh yeah, I forgot...you weren't old enough to remember. About ten miles from here their lands begin. Just west of the river...and where the human road runs through...we have lost many to that road. Even we tread it swiftly and with great care."

"Please, call me Swift Heart. For now, anyway. " Swift Heart corrected.

"Serves you right...perhaps you will learn not to pick on lesser creatures..." Rhiannon interjected, with a snort.

"Swift Heart, is she ALWAYS this bitter?"

"Glenn, I don't know, I'm just getting to know her again after ten years...and you really do have to understand, it WAS a wolf responsible for all of it. So please, try not to get her too angry...I'm saying that as much for her sake as I am for yours..."

"I understand, I just wish she would learn to accept that I'm not that wolf..."

"It's harder for her to do than you think. You gotta understand, she's protective. She was alone because of that until she found her mate, and she doesn't want the same fate to befall her family as she went through..."

"And what of you?"

"Well...I'm not so at ease about it myself. But, I'm a Care Bear Cousin, entrusted with a mission to help out Earth. To that end, I'll do whatever it takes to fulfill it."

"And what, pray tell, will happen when you're done with it? Will you still harbor the same bitterness your sister does for my kind?"

"It's not in my nature to be bitter. But trust, now...that's harder to win."

"And what would it take to win your trust?"

Swift Heart stopped and spun to face the wolf, blue eyes quivering with so many mixed emotions. _Like I really know how to answer that._

"I don't know, Glenn. Honestly and truthfully, I don't know if that can ever be done. Not completely, anyways. It's hard for me to explain. I'm a Care Bear Cousin, bound by duty to protect the feelings of others and teach others to share theirs. Right now, though, I don't know if I _should_ be sharing mine..."

"And just what are yours?"

"I couldn't explain. In some ways, I feel the same way Rhiannon does. But, I have to stop and ask myself, is that because of the frustration of a life denied to me, or is truly because of you?"

"Do you really think it is me?"

"No, I don't. Still, though, a lifetime of hurt is hard to overcome in just a few minutes..."

"Completely understandable...I just wish I had the courage to do what you just did..."

Swift Heart was taken completely aback by his comment. "And just what did I do..."

"You spoke the truth, from your heart. That takes real courage..."

She blushed just a bit. "Thank you..."

"And for whatever it is worth, you have my trust. I wish I could win yours..."

She blinked. "You would trust me so easily?"

"Does that surprise you?"

"In a word, yes. You've known me and my sister for what, a day? Whatever have I done or she done to win your trust?"

"She has a bit further to go before she can win my trust. But what you do, you do without bitterness or prejudice in your heart. Your feelings are understandable, and I cannot blame you for your anger towards my kind. However, you have at least given me the chance to redeem myself, and perhaps, my people as well."

Swift Heart nodded, then turned her eyes away for a moment. "I was only doing what I was raised to do..."

"Well..." Glenn started to say, before being interrupted by the breaking of a branch in the distance. "What was that?"

Rhiannon and Swift Heart had also stopped, ears pivoting to and fro. "I don't know..."

Glenn sniffed the air for a moment. "Wolves...over there..."

Instantly Rhiannon shifted into an alert stance, glaring at Glenn. "Yours?"

He sniffed the air again, then shook his head. "I don't recognize their scents...in fact, they seem rather odd to me. The only way I can tell they ARE wolves is the fact that my ears can pick up their growling..."

Swift Heart just blinked. _Guess it's not so bad traveling with a wolf..._ she thought. Aloud she spoke to Glenn, "How far off are they?"

He froze for a minute, then turned and shifted to an attack pose. "Right on top of us!" he shouted, just in time to take a broadside charge from one of them.

Rhiannon darted in front of her sister protectively. "You are NOT getting my sister without going through me first, you overgrown mutts!"

Swift Heart managed to get a look at their attackers and gasped--they were pure black with glowing red eyes. "Rhiannon...these aren't normal wolves...they're Shadows, in the form of a wolf..."

"What do you mean, Chrissie?"

"I'll explain later, right now there's no time...just let me get a clear shot at them..."

"Clear shot? What are you talking about? Last time I checked sis, we ain't carrying any weapon of any sort..."

"You'll see. Just get me clear."

Glenn was doing a fair job holding his own against both of them. "What manner of creatures are these? They attack without soul, without honor..."

"That's because they don't have one, Glenn..." Swift Heart shouted, taking a second to size up the distance to one of them, then shifting her stance, watching Rhiannon dart around trying to separate the pair into single targets. She'd only get one clear shot right now, but it was enough.

"All right...let's do this...Care Bear Countdown...four...three...two..one...and STARE!"

All at once her tummy symbol glowed with incandescent light before a solid lance of pure positive energy shot forth and slammed headlong into the first Shadow wolf. It screamed an unearthly sound before reverting into its native form and floating away, back into the darkness from whence it came.

The second was on a beeline for Rhiannon...and Swift Heart had no time to shift her aim before it tackled her broadside. Her sister tumbled a ways along the ground before smacking hard into the stump of a tree. Dazed, she glanced around, trying to get her bearings straight.

The wolf, however, had sensed its true target and made a rush towards Swift Heart.

"I see now, they're after me..." she muttered, turning to face her adversary--a bit too slow. Her eyes closed as she realized that she wasn't going to be in time to do anything...and braced herself.

But nothing happened--just a growl and a blur of grey shooting past her closed eyes to intercede between her and the beast.

"You want either one of these two, hell spawned creature, you must first pass me..."

The Shadow wolf didn't respond--of course, it had neither the need nor the capability to respond even if it had wanted to. It simply charged.

However, Glenn's block gave Swift Heart the time she needed to prepare for another shot. This time, her response was slightly quicker than her first shot, and that same blast of starfire energy lanced into and through the other Shadow...this one simply dissipating into nothingness.

After the light died down and her tummy symbol returned to normal, she blinked and glanced around for her companions. "Everyone okay?"

"I'm all right, though I must confess...that was astounding. I must say again...exactly who are you, Swift Heart Rabbit? Are you an angel, sent from above?"

"Oh, don't tell me..." Rhiannon spoke, still somewhat dazed from her meeting with the tree stump. "Don't tell me you're even THINKING about that..."

"It's all right, sis...I don't think he means it in THAT way...I just think he's a bit astonished by my abilities."

"Now I understand what ya meant, sis. And I gotta say...wow."

"Told you I could defend myself, Rhiannon..."

"I knew you could, Chrissie. Just...not ever like THAT."

She turned to Glenn. "That, Glenn, was a Care Bear Stare. I can't explain how it works, really...something about how we focus the positive energy in ourselves into our tummy symbols..which in turn cast that energy out against whatever evil we happen to face. Since we have no weapons, it is our only way we can defend ourselves."

"I see. Not something garden variety, it seems."

"You got that right..."

Swift Heart blushed again. "Guys, I was just doing what came naturally to me..."

"I know, " both rabbit and wolf spoke nearly in unison.

Rhiannon looked around to see if there was anything else waiting to ambush them, then turned to Glenn. "I suppose I owe you one...although right now I'd just take that against the pain your kind caused me..."

"I guess I can accept that..." he said, then turned to Swift Heart.

She sighed and looked up at him. "Although she won't say it, she's thankful you saved both me and her. It's just gonna take a long time for her to admit that."

"I understand."

"As for myself...well...perhaps you have gone a long way towards earning my trust...thank you. I wouldn't have been able to do anything without your help."

"As with you, I was just doing what came naturally to me. We wolves defend our pack with our lives if it becomes necessary."

"I see..."

"Maybe you and I are not as dissimilar as one would think..."

"Perhaps not...but still..."

"What is it?"

"How did you wind up being so nice, and...well, noble? "

"Well...you see, my father issued the edict to his pack that we were not to hunt anymore, and instead search for plants and other foods because he felt a great sorrow over what he had just caused. Not even a month before, my mother was lost, one of the many casualties of the human highway that runs through our lands...he was so grieved by that he swore never again would he or anyone under his rule ever cause that kind of grief to another living creature. For ten years, we have lived by that rule. He promised himself then that his children would be raised to be kindhearted and loving, more noble than the world around us would believe us to be..."

"I see...well, you really are different...but..."

He glanced at her to see her blue eyes meeting his green ones. "You're so different it fascinates me...how could something that caused me so much pain in my life be at the same time so warm...I can't understand that for the life of me...there is really only one thing I can even relate to it..."

"And that is?"

"Years ago, when we had just barely grown up, we had to face a great evil called Dark Heart. He was evil to the core, yet one human girl stood up for what she believed, and in doing so, freed him from the evil that possessed him..."

"And how did she believe?"

She bowed her head in thought for a moment. "Good or bad, you're still worthy of being trusted. You're still human inside. That's pretty much what she believed."

"And that relates to me?"

"Yes...because I'm beginning to understand now, I can't blame everyone for the actions of one. Especially when those actions are years and years in the past. I should just be grateful now that my sister is alive and well and move forward."

"Agreed..."

"Yeah..."

"I never thought your kind possessed such power and courage, myself..."

"Yeah, I guess wolves would have thought us for years to be just small, helpless creatures that deserved nothing but to be hunted..."

"I must confess...you fascinate me as much as I do you..."

Swift Heart blinked. "I do? How?"

"You may not be a wolf, but you possess the heart and the spirit of one. I believe so, anyway."

"Why...thank you..."

He just smiled at her and laid a paw on her shoulder. "No matter where our paths take us, I consider you as much as part of my pack now as though you were born into it...this I swear..."

She closed her eyes, then opened them and smiled at him. "Never thought I'd see the day. And thank you again."

"No, thank you, Swift Heart...for showing me what real courage is. I owe you something that I cannot hope in a lifetime to repay, except with my life...you have shown me loyalty..."

Rhiannon trotted over to her sister's side. "We going on now?"

"Yeah, in a minute..."

Rhiannon looked up at Glenn. "DON'T go getting any ideas now...you know your kind and hers don't get along..."

Glenn blinked at her comment, then looked down at Swift Heart. "What is she talking about?"

Rhiannon just laughed a bit. "Don't you see it, sis?"

"No, not really..." _Actually, I do, but it'd be silly to admit that to my sister. I love her as much as anyone loved their sister, but she'd never understand. _

"He's gone all head over heels. And I'm telling ya, it'll never work. I'll say it again--wolves and rabbits weren't meant to get along, much less be together..."

"Remind me to show you Care-A-Lot and the Forest of Feelings sometime, sis."

Rhiannon just blinked, then stared at her sister. "You can't be serious..."

_Maybe...maybe not. Maybe it's just me learning finally to overcome my fears. But to find something beyond that..this I never dreamed of. And this is why I can't tell you now what I'm thinking..._

"Rhiannon, he saved both of our lives. I think he's done enough to earn at least a measure of our trust."

"Yeah, yeah...anyways, it's getting late. I'd suggest we find somewhere to sleep. Preferrably with him FAR away from you, sis..."

Glenn just shook his head. _Sheesh...what's it gonna take? It's not like I have any designs on her sister...I just admire her courage and strength. She is worthy of my friendship--even if no one else but my pack would think so..._

Night fell, and three souls watched the stars twirl through the heavens.

"Hey, sis..."

"What is it, Rhiannon?"

"Can you see your home from here?"

"Oh, Care-A-Lot? Well...let's see..." Her eyes scanned the skies for the North Star--which the Care Bear Family referred to as the Great Wishing Star--then tracked slightly to the left, looking for an outline familiar only to her...there it was... "Yeah, it's right over there, little to the left of the North Star..."

"I don't see anything..."

"It's hard to see at night..."

"Oh."

Glenn silently trotted over to her, staying just enough out of the light cast by the campfire they'd set--thankfully Rhiannon had the sense to bring along some supplies--so that Rhiannon couldn't see him, and pitched his voice just enough for Swift Heart to hear him.

"Sorry I must talk and sneak about like this...but I do not wish to draw the ire of your sister, Swift Heart..."

"I understand..." she replied, keeping her voice equally low.

"Still, how does she figure I have any designs on you?"

"Huh?"

"She seems to think there is something more between you and I..."

She just shrugged her shoulders, the firelight reflecting off her blue eyes. "Don't ask me what that is...I wouldn't know."

"Well, for what it's worth, she seems to think I want you as a mate..."

She blinked a moment before regaining her composure. "Yeah, she does seem to think that. Although she's right on one point--our kinds haven't gotten along since time began."

"Agreed..." he said, a slight tone of dismay to his voice.

"I'm sure a wolf would think the same of it."

"Perhaps.."

"I'm pretty sure of that, Glenn..."

"But still..."

She sighed softly, then shook her head. "I really don't know what to think of what she thinks, Glenn...really, I don't..."

"But she IS your sister..."

"Yes, she is. But sometimes I find that I don't quite share her thoughts about some things."

"Like what she said?"

"I'm not sure."

Glenn sighed and closed his eyes. "Suppose for a minute she's right and I do want you as a mate. Do you think that was possible?"

"Glenn, I don't know, ok? I've seen odder pairings in my life...It's just..."

"Just what?"

She sighed and looked up at him. "Even if I wanted to, I'm not sure I'm ready to even try. I still have so much that I need to think about. And admittedly, one of those things is how my sister would react..."

"You mean to say that you would honestly give it a chance..."

"Maybe...maybe not. I don't know. I just know that right now I wouldn't be ready for it..."

"I see..."

"What if your sister reacts unfavorably?"

"At this point? It's the safest bet I could make that she would. And I couldn't stand to lose her. Yet...this is also my life, and my choice."

"I understand...I think."

She looked up at him with sleepy eyes--after all it was getting late--and raised her paw to stroke his cheek, gently, still in a friendly sort of manner. "If ya wanna know what I really think..."

"I don't think I would have said anything to you if I didn't want to know."

"One thing I learned long ago, and especially proven to me double this past day, is never overestimate the impossible. And honestly, you're worth the chance. But it's me that's not ready to take that. Maybe, someday, I just might...just not right now, ok?"

"I can accept that, Swift Heart...now, let us rest. We have a long journey ahead of us tomorrow."

"I agree. Good night, Glenn."

"Good night, Chrissie..."

She didn't have the heart to correct him. Besides, he'd earned the right to call her by her birth name.

After she'd fallen asleep, though, and before he became too sleepy to make the attempt himself, he gently kissed her on the forehead. "Maybe, one day..."

Three hours later, she was wide awake, whereas Glenn and Rhiannon had fallen asleep. She planted her blue tail on a rock and pondered the sudden turn her life was taking.

She looked up at the stars and sighed. "Oh what am I doing?"

She closed her eyes and let her head droop. "I really do think he's wonderful...but still, I don't know, I really don't. And there isn't anyone who really can help me...who can I turn to, my sister? She'd just jump all over me telling me is isn't right...and as much as I love my sister, this is _my _decision to make...and yet...there's just so much more on my mind. I mean, I have this mission to complete...to help Glenn and the others, perhaps even my sister.."

"But still..." She just sat there, her ears hung low. "Why'd he have to be so nice, anyways? I mean, if he acted like any other wolf this would be sooo much easier for me. He's...different. So different, and so warm and so...argh..."

She sighed, then closed her eyes, blushing just slightly at a thought she was having. "Oh, stop it, Swift Heart..." she muttered to herself. "Ya shouldn't be thinking those things..."

She shook her head. "Yeah...I shouldn't be thinking like that. And I can't help thinking that way either..."

Again her blue eyes went to the stars. "I wonder what Mom and Dad would have thought? It's times like this I wish I had the chance to know them...just as much as I can sure use the help from my other family..."

"You called?" a voice in the trees called, softly and just barely above a whisper.

"Who's that?" Swift Heart answered back, astonished and just barely able to keep _her _voice down, stifling a yelp so much her voice sounded more like a squeak.

"It's me. True Heart...I just thought I'd come down to check out how you were doing...well, that and I couldn't sleep much either so I took a look down at Earth and just happened to see you...what's on your mind?"

"Well...you didn't overhear me much did you?"

"Not too much, no. Just bits and pieces. But whatever it is, it's deeply troubling you. You're never up THIS late."

"How do you do it, True Heart?"

"Do what, Swift Heart?"

"How do you and Noble Heart make it work all these years?"

"Well, I'll tell you a secret, just between us females. It isn't easy, and wasn't at the beginning."

"Even now, after all these years raising the Care Bear Family?"

"Even now...love has its ups and downs just like anytihng else in life. Just because Noble Heart and I are Care Bear and Care Bear Cousins doesn't mean that there aren't moments we don't see eye to eye."

"Oh...but how did you even make it work in the beginning?"

"Well, it was hard...our families didn't exactly approve of our union, us being differing species and both my family and his thought it best we stick with our own kind. But, we didn't see it that way..."

"You really loved him, didn't you?"

"As much then as I do today, Swift Heart--with all my heart. We promised each other that no matter what happened, we'd see it through...and if no one else understood that but he and I, that's all that mattered. I didn't expect anyone else to understand our love...we just did what came naturally to each of us."

"I see..."

"And I suspect you're having the same problems?"

"Well...yes, True Heart. I see the wisdom of what he tells me...and yet I can't bring myself to accept it. I mean...it was a wolf that separated my sister and I...and now I have one falling for me..."

"And what of how you feel?"

She lowered her head, sighed, then looked back up at True Heart. "I think I feel the same way...but it just doesn't make sense..."

"To the world, to your sister, or to yourself?"

Swift Heart sighed again. "All of the above."

"Swift Heart, did it occur to you that love isn't supposed to make sense? It's not something you make into something rational. It's what you feel most deeply. Trust what you feel, and don't try to question why you feel it or whether it's the way that everyone else thinks it's supposed to be. "

"I know, True Heart. Silly thing is I've always known it. I'm just scared of what my sister would do...I don't want to lose her again.."

"Swift Heart, if she truly loves you--and I've been watching from time to time, I've no reason to think she doesn't--she'll understand, It might take her some time to come around to the idea, but she'll understand..."

"Yeah, you're right. And perhaps that's all I've really needed is reassurance..."

"Perhaps. That and you were never really one to jump into anything too fast...running is the only thing you do that way."

Both of them had to laugh at that. "But sometimes that's just the way it happens. And you just have to allow yourself to open your heart to the possibility. Especailly if you truly feel the way you say you do."

She lowered her head, her eyes gazing at the ground. After a long pause, and a deep breath, she looked up at her mentor. "I do."

"Then there really is nothing else I need to say, Swift Heart...you've had it in you all along. You just neeed to show yourself that you could do it."

"Thanks, True Heart..."

"Any time, Swift Heart. Now, get some sleep. You do, after all, still have a mission to complete. "

"Right...and wouldn't Noble Heart be worried at you being gone this time of night?"

"Oh please, Swift Heart...his snoring at night sounds a lot like Lotsa Heart Elephant trumpeting, accompanied by a yard of locomotives. Trust me, he's sleeping soundly. And I've dealt with it for twenty years of marriage..so I deserve a _little_ bit of a break now and again..."

"Twenty years? Geez, that's a long time to be with just one..."

"Aye, it is...but it's been the happiest and most complete twenty years of my life, and I wouldn't trade them--or him--for all the treasures in Care-A-Lot and Earth combined, Honestly, I'm looking forward to another twenty and more...Good night, Swift Heart."

"Good night, True Heart."

**END CHAPTER 2**


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

While Swift Heart and company were asleep, far above the world, No Heart was positively furious. Which, for him, was merely just par for the course.

"HOW COULD SHE POSSIBLY DEFEAT MY SHADOWS ALONE?" the wizard of darkness bellowed.

From behind a table, his assistant, some furball called Beastly, cringed. "I don't know, Your Evilness..."

"SILENCE! I DIDN'T ASK YOU" was the infuriated reply.

"They had help, you know..." a voice answered from the corner shadows. "Although I wouldn't give my brother much credit, he's soft as a marshmallow...a disgrace to us wolves..."

"Ah yes...Victor, was it? So you say your brother was helping them..."

"Although I don't know why. He couldn't fight his way out of a wet paper bag, and he chooses to follow my father's stupid rule against hunting..."

"And you wish to rule your pack, I know...that is why you came to me..."

"Yes."

"These were but weak, though. I will have to make the next demons I send after him stronger...since he is now accompanied by one of those blasted Care Bear Cousins...they have been a thorn in my side forever...but this time I will fell two birds with one stone...hahahaahaha!"

Morning came and Swift Heart was the first to awaken, rubbing her eyes and yawning ever so slightly. "Mmm...morning already?"

"Good morning, Chrissie." Rhiannon spoke. "You look like you could use a few more hours sleep.."

"I look that bad?"

"Like you've been up half the night..."

_If she only knew..._, she thought to herself. "Nah, just had a bit of trouble sleeping, that's all."

"From the way you look, more than a bit. But I won't ask over what...I managed to gather up some breakfast, though, if yer hungry."

"I'm all right for now. I might grab something later. How far we gotta go, Glenn?"

The lupine awoke slowly, yawning, his jaw snapping shut with a _clack_ that made both rabbits flinch, if only slightly. "Hm? I'd say about five miles." His nose sniffed the air, once, twice...then he looked to his companions with a look that could be described as utter dismay--and a measure of fear.

"I'm picking up a scent, though..two actually. One just like we had earlier...and one I'd just as soon not have to face again in my lifetime..."

"More shadows?" Rhiannon shot back. "I swear if we get attacked by ONE more wolf I'm gonna hold YOU personally responsible."

"I wish it were one, Rhiannon..."

"Huh?"

"The other scent is my brother..Victor..."

"You're kidding me..."

"I wish. He's more vicious than any wolf could possibly be..." He spun suddenly to face Rhiannon. "If you can conceive of such a thing..."

She shook her head. "Sounds like someone I don't wanna be anywhere near."

"Guys, I can handle the Shadows...but what about your brother, Glenn?" Swift Heart interrupted.

"I don't know. For one, he is stronger, larger, and faster than I."

"So why would he be fighting against you?"

"It's a long story."

"Well, explain as best you can..."

Glenn sighed. "Several years ago he grew discontent with my father's rule of our pack and our lands...he believed it was foolish for a wolf not to hunt as he believed it was in our blood...he challenged my father, lost, and was banished from the pack for his misdeeds. But why would he return now?"

"I don't know. Do you think it would have anything to do with what's going on in your lands?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. But I do know this--he is extremely dangerous. If anyone must fight him, it will be me..."

Rhiannon glanced at Glenn, her eyes showing she was impressed that he would stand against his own to defend them. But, as usual, her attitude didn't show it. "Good...cuz I don't wanna have to fight him, you might wind up minus one brother..."

"Sometimes, I'd think that'd be doing me a favor..."

"Glenn...you don't really mean that, do you?" Swift Heart glanced up at him, her eyes pleading.

"He dishonored the pack...yet, I suppose you're right, Swift Heart, I shouldn't feel that way about him. He just seems so..I don't know..consumed by the hunger for power..."

"Do you think you could save him?"

"Swift Heart, it's been years. I don't know if it's possible."

She ran up to look him straight in the eye. "Weren't you telling me last night that nothing was impossible?"

Glenn looked down. She most definitely had him there.

Rhiannon cocked a brow at the two of them. "Is there something going on here that I should know about?"

Both of them paid no mind to her comment--at least for the moment. "If you could, would you?"

"I..."

"Glenn, promise me you'll try..."

"I...okay, I promise, Swift Heart. For you..."

"Glenn, not just for me. But for you too."

"Okay..."

Rhiannon just glanced at her sister. "Chrissie, could I have a word with you?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"What exactly are you talking about?"

"Well...nothing, really..."

"Chrissie, I know it's more than just nothing. Tell me..."

"You wouldn't understand, Rhiannon..."

"Try me..."

"Well...it's about Glenn..."

"Yeah, what about him?"

"I think...never mind, I really don't think you'd understand it..."

"Chrissie, are you thinking about what I THINK you're thinking about? I told you two, it'll never work..."

"But..."

"I'm just trying to protect you, sis...to keep you from getting hurt..."

"He wouldn't hurt us..."

"He's a wolf, Chrissie..."

That was all the further she got before Swift Heart turned on her like a wildcat, a glint of anger she'd just been barely able to keep under any semblance of control in her eyes. 'What do you know?"

"I know that it was because of a wolf that we got separated in the first place, sis..." Rhiannon replied, calmly, showing her sister she could hold her own--even if it was against her.

"Yeah, I know...but he's different..."

"I don't see any difference, sis...I just see what I see..."

"Rhiannon, don't you have enough sense to look inside?"

"What's there to see?"

"Are you THAT blinded by your own anger? Sis, I swear...stop trying so hard to protect me from something I don't need protection from! Or else you're just gonna push me away..." Swift Heart replied, tears in her eyes. "I just wanna give him a chance, ok?"

Rhiannon stood there for a long moment. There it was, right there on the table. Either she supported her sister in this or she lost her forever...and sadly enough, she'd lose her to her own shortsightedness and her foolish pride.

"Chrissie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you like that. And you're right, I have been blinded by the past. What matters right now to me is you, and your happiness. Even if to keep that happiness, I have to learn to accept something that just doesn't make sense to me. I'm just scared, sis..."

"Rhiannon...you gotta learn to let go of that fear...or else it's just going to consume you..."

"You're right..." She hugged her sister tight. "I guess even the big sis has something she can learn from the little sister..."

"Chrissie, I love you...you're my only blood that I have left to me...well, other than my kids..."

"And I love you, Rhiannon...you're the only blood to me, period."

Glenn just watched the two sisters. _So, it seems she finally got her to accept me..._

Rhiannon walked over to Glenn and looked him straight in the eye. "I'm gonna let you have her if you want her...but listen up...if you harm ONE hair on her head or EVER break her heart...you're gonna wish you never met me...ok?"

"Okay, okay...I promise I won't hurt her..."

"Actually, I'm more worried about you breaking her heart..."

"I swear I won't do that either..."

"You better not..."

"Rhiannon..."

"Look, it's going to take me a while to fully accept this, ok? I have a lot to put behind me. But Chrissie's right. I have to start living for the future. And if she wants you in it, I have to accept that. On my terms, though."

"Fair enough."

"Anyway, we better get going. How far do we have to go?"

"Not too far. I'd say maybe...oh, a few minutes from here."

"Great. Let's go."


	4. Chapter 4

Morning light brought them to the edge of the wolves' lands.

"Wow...I didn't know your land was so...beautiful." Swift Heart gasped.

"Well, it's just over the river. Lots of forest, plenty of room to roam...just watch out for the road over there. " Glenn pointed out.

"I see."

"Are we going to be attacked?" Rhiannon spoke up, eyes darting to and fro. Even though she'd grudgingly accepted his companinonship--and his desire for her sister--wolves were still creatures she counted among her mortal enemies.

"No, not while I'm around..." Glenn answered...just as a grey fog crept into the area.

"Heh...heh...heh...so you say. Except for one thing...dear brother." an evil voice intoned.

"It can't be..." Glenn spoke, surprised.

"Yes...brother...it is me, Victor...I must say, a pleasure to see you..." he spoke, stalking forward, red eyes glaring at him. With the exception of those eyes, they well could have been twins.

"Wish I could say the same. What is it you want?"

"Simple. I want that rabbit you're carrying with you. My...partner...wishes it."

"Well, brother, I don't care whatever it is your...partner...wants. If you want her, you're going to have to go through me."

Victor's eyes flashed. "Glenn...you underestimate me. And overestimate yourself.I am not the runt brother you and Father threw aside, so many years ago...and you couldn't fight me if you tried..."

"Neitherhe nor Ithrew you aside, Victor. You decided to go against his edicts and challenge him, and you paid the price..."

"Oh, his stupid rules. Doesn't he realize that we wolves were destined to rule the forests? The weaker animals are our prey...they have been for milennia, Glenn. And now he goes against those very traditions...letting those weaklings _dare _to be our equals?"

"He felt it his punishment for what he did..."

"Oh spare me, brother. It was their fault. Those silly rabbits..."

Swift Heart and Rhiannon gasped. "Excuse us?"

Victor turned to face them both. "Yes, those silly rabbits shouldn't have been in OUR lands. They were trespassing...and they got exactly what they deserved."

At that moment, to say that Rhiannon was shaking with rage would be an understatement. "How dare you speak of me and my sister as tresspassers...we were starving."

"Oh well, two less rabbits to worry about then. It's the way of the world. I am strong and you are just weak..."

Swift Heart stood protectively before her sister. "We'll see just who's weak, Victor. I don't know who you are--other than Glenn's 'little' big brother--but you are NOT going to harm me or my sister...or anyone else...at least not while I have anything to say about it."

The wolf growled menacingly. "Dare you test your strength against mine, runt? Wolves have always been your superior...and always will be."

"That's not true, Victor. I come from a place where all kinds of creatures live in perfect harmony."

"How naive..."

Swift Heart kept her eyes on him. His eyes...yes, they were quite unnatural. Red, the color of anger and hatred. She suspected his "partner" was No Heart. _He's just on an ego trip...but only No Heart would turn that into outright hatred. And it's probably gonna take him getting knocked down to size...but if No Heart really **is **involved...there must be some sort of darkness possessing him. Which makes him quite dangerous. _

"No one is superior to another, Victor." And with those words, she dashed full speed around and behind him. _Only way I can take him down is speed. _

The wolf, however, had turned to face her. "Impressive. But not enough." He lunged forward, surprising her with a speed that was very near her own.

_Yup, that's gotta be the work of No Heart, all right--he knew Victor was coming after me...and gave him speed to match. This isn't going to be easy..._she thought as she skipped to one side, barely avoiding his claws.

Victor, anticipating her move, dug his forepaws into the ground and turned his entire body, risking a full speed impact with a tree trunk. He then sped after her.

Swift Heart was trying her best to lose him in the dense forest, bounding behind one tree, dashing between two more , trying her best to keep the fight away from the others.

But for every step she made, Victor was either right there in front of her or just behind. He swiped with his claws, just grazing her fur and causing her to slip to one side.

She quickly recovered her balance and made a mad dash back for her companions. _A risky move...but I don't think he'd really be expecting me to do this. He's every bit my equal in speed...and if those claws connect..._

But he anticipated her yet again and dashed around to cut her off.

_All right...I'm done running from this fool. He wants to fight me...he's got it. _She stopped and braced her hind paws wide.

"You want me, Victor...you got it." she shouted as her tummy symbol began to glow.

Victor just laughed maniacally. "You really think you can stop me, rabbit?"

As he spoke, a black light engulfed one paw. He raised that one paw towards her.

Swift Heart couldn't see it. She was too busy concentrating her energy into her tummy symbol. She shouted, "CARE BEAR COUSIN CALL!"

Just as she did, Victor let fly with a bolt of dark energy.

The darkness met her Call head on...but instead of colliding, the energies just parted around the black mass like a river parting around a rock.

The end result was her Call slamming into Victor in twin streams of incandescent energy...and a bolt of pure darkness likewise slamming into Swift Heart.

Victor simply fell where he stood, Swift Heart crashed into a tree and slumped to the ground.

In a moment's time, Glenn and Rhiannon ran over to her.

"Chrissie...say something...please."

Swift Heart opened her eyes for a second. "The dark...no...don't..," she whispered before her eyes closed.

"We gotta get her somewhere safe!" Glenn exclaimed.

"How far is your home?" Rhiannon shouted back."

"Too far. We're closer to yours."

"We better get going then, on the double." Rhiannon nodded, picking up her sister gently. "I just pray she's going to be all right..."

Glenn nodded, and started to pick up his brother.

Rhiannon glared for a moment. "He did this to her."

"I know, Rhiannon, I know. But he is not himself, and he is still my brother. Even if my father banished him."

She glared for another moment, then nodded. "Very well."

The two of them bounded off, carrying their cargoes, each one praying that theirs was safe.

Glenn was growling under his breath. "Whoever did this to my brother...and to Chrissie...when I find them, I vow there will be hell to pay..."


	5. Chapter 5

(A/N: For the mental battle sequence, plain italics are Swift Heart's/Chrissie's thoughts, **bold **italics are her dark mirror image, and underline italics are the spirit of her mother)

Meanwhile, up in Care-A-Lot, Bright Heart noticed something clearly off the scale down on Earth. Without a moment's hesitation, he picked up his phone.

"Come on...there's got to be someone there..." the raccoon muttered as the phone rang and rang. On the third ring, someone picked up.

"Take Care here...what's the problem?"

"Why are you...oh, never mind. I just got a reading of dark energy way off the scale on Earth. It only lasted for a second or so, but..."

"I just happened to hear the phone ringing. Was just taking care of a house call. Anyway, I suppose I can go check it out. It's been ages since I was on a mission, though." the Care Bear doctor answered.

"All right...just let me check on where it is...oh my..."

"What is it, Bright Heart?"

"It's Swift Heart. She's down there too. And from the looks of things, she was on the receiving end of whatever that was."

"I see. I'm on my way now. Have Grumpy fire up the Rainbow Rescue Beam."

"Will do."

Back on Earth, Glenn and Rhiannon were trying their best to take care of Swift Heart.

"Will she be okay?" Glenn asked.

"I don't know, Glenn. She's still out cold, and I don't mean just in terms of her being conscious. It's as if her whole body has grown cold...but she's still breathing, if only barely."

"Is she...?"

"Again, I don't know. I'm just a simple country girl, Glenn. These magics that your brother...and even my sister use...or whatever it is...it's way beyond me."

"I wish there was something I could do..."

"Why don't you start by explaining why your brother went totally nuts back there."

"I don't know, Rhiannon. All I know is that he's not himself. I've always known he was egotistical, and that he didn't agree with my father on many things. I also know he is quite vicious. But I also know he would never resort to an attack like this...besides, the look in his eyes was crazed..almost possessed. The brother I know is far more cunning."

"Possessed by what, though?"

"I don't know."

"Well...all I'm worried about is whether or not Chrissie pulls out of this. I'm not terribly worried about your brother..."

"I understand...but..."

"Glenn, I know he's your brother. But she's my sister...my _only _sister. I just now got to know her again. And I'm not going to lose her now." She sighed. "I wish it'd been me."

"You aren't the only one. I wish it was me instead of her."

They both nodded, just as a multicolored flash of light twinkled in the windows for a moment.

"What was that?" Rhiannon gasped.

"I don't know...but I'm going to go find out." Glenn answered and sprinted for the door. _So help me, if it's another one of those creatures that attacked earlier, or the one responsible for what happened to my brother and Chrissie, they're going to wish they'd never been born...or spawned, or whatever process brought them into being..._

"Who is it?" Glenn answered to the still night.

"A friend. I assure you, I come in peace. I am here for a friend." the voice answered back.

"Who are you here for?"

"I don't know if you know her name..."

"Swift Heart?" Glenn answered back. "She's here...but what do you need her for?"

"I see you _do _know her." a figure answered, becoming clearer by the firelight within the home that shone through the door. "I fear she may be in great danger..."

"Is that ever an understatement..." Glenn replied, lowering his guard, if just barely. "But you truly do sound like a friend of hers...she's in here. Come in, if you can help her."

"I don't know, but I'll try. By the way, I am Take Care Bear. I'm the doctor for the Care Bear family." the magenta furred bear answered, her form becoming much clearer now.

"So you're one of her...family. I believe she spoke of you."

"Yes." Take Care made her way into the room where Swift Heart lay--and gasped.

"Oh my...what in the world happened to her?" She ran over and grasped her paw, nearly dropping it when its temperature registered on her senses. "She's...ice cold."

"Yes, she is."

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"She got hit with some sort of energy..."

"I see. So that was what Bright Heart was talking about."

"Is there anything at all you can do for her?" Rhiannon shot back.

"And just who are you?"

"I'm her sister, Rhiannon."

"Her sister?"

"Yes. It's a long story."

"I'll have to hear it later, when we have time." Take Care nodded, fished through her bag for a few instruments, and spent some time getting some readings, taking measurements, deciphering their meaning, and then, at last, shook her head.

She turned to the other two and sighed. "I'm afraid I have some bad news."

"What?"

"Well...she's still alive, that much I can tell. Her body, in fact, is working normally. But..."

"But what?"

"Her spirit...her soul is weak. It's as if she is a prisoner in her own body."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean just that. Darkness has possessed her. And this is one fight she'll have to take on her own. Only her own force of will can break the spell placed on her."

"Will she?"

"I don't know, I just don't know. Perhaps she has enough willpower to break the spell. But if not, she'll be like this forever."

"So what do we do now?"

She looked at the two of them with the most haunted of eyes. In all her time as a doctor, she'd never seen a case like this. "Care for her. That's all you can do."

"And what will you do?"

"I'm a doctor, and I won't turn my back on a patient. I'm staying."

Glenn nodded. "Thank you."

Suddenly, they heard someone stirring in the other room, and the three of them bolted to see who it was, wishing it was Swift Heart.

It wasn't though. It was Victor, rubbing his forehead, eyes closed.

Glenn and Rhiannon stood poised, ready to attack at the first sign of treachery.

But, the most surprising thing happened. When Victor opened his eyes, Glenn was shocked to see they had returned to their normal emerald green color.

"Where...where am I?"

"Do you remember anything about what had just happened?" Glenn finally managed to ask.

"...No," was his only reply.

Victor blinked, once to clear his vision, again when he'd noticed who was standing behind his brother. "How did I end up in a rabbit den?"

"Because you brutally attacked my sister." Rhiannon answered, pure--yet restrained--anger in her voice. "Be grateful your brother brought you back here. If you ask me, he should have left you laying there."

"I did?" Victor asked.

Take Care walked in behind the other two, tapping them on the shoulder. "I think I have a few things to ask him myself. It might help Swift Heart."

They both nodded and grudgingly took a step back to admit the doctor in.

"Victor, is it?"

"Yes. Who are you?"

"I'm Take Care Bear. Anyway, do you have any clue whatsoever what has happened to you?"

"No. The last thing I remember was walking through our forest. Suddenly this dark figure appeared in front of me..."

"Did it have red glowing eyes?"

"Yeah, I remember that much."

"Just as I suspected."

"Huh?"

"Victor, your soul was possessed by an evil wizard called No Heart."

"How so?"

"I don't know...but he tends to use anger and hatred against people."

"I see. I remember seeing what happened..but having no control over it or why I was doing it..."

"What do you remember?"

"I remember chasing a rabbit through the woods...and...oh my..." He got up and made a beeline for the other room.

"Don't you..." Rhiannon started to move just as quickly.

"Victor..." Glenn replied.

They both arrived to see him standing at Swift Heart's bedside, her unmoving form still laying on it.

"What...what have I done?" Victor asked.

"I don't know. Some darkness has taken over her soul..." Glenn answered.

"I...I did this...all I felt was anger..."

Glenn walked over to his brother's side. "It wasn't you. I mean, it was your body, but your mind was clouded..."

"Why was I so angry?"

"You were always the one that disagreed with Father over his decision not to hunt anymore...that all the creatures in his realm were free to come and go as they wished."

He nodded and sighed. "I did. I believed it was lowering ourselves. And yes, I fought him and lost. But, over time, I was beginning to see the wisdom in his words."

"But No Heart used the anger you still had and took over your mind...and your heart."

"I would believe so..."

"Brother...you are so full of pride..."

"Yes, and now look what that pride has done, eh, Glenn?"

He could only nod, his eyes never coming off Swift Heart.

Victor just chuckled. "If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I'd never believe it, and I'm not sure I believe it even now."

"How could you just laugh, Victor?"

"Not at what I did, Glenn. I know we've had our differences, and at times you and I never saw eye to eye. But I assure you, I never would have done this if I were in my right mind."

"Then what were you laughing at?"

"The way you look at her. Only a few years ago, none of us would have ever thought of it. My, how times have changed, " he answered, then lowered his eyes. "But if what's happened to her can't be reversed..."

Glenn nodded. "It would take her will alone to break the spell..."

Victor glanced up at his brother. "Then perhaps she will break the spell..."

"What makes you so confident?"

"She has the spririt of a wolf, Glenn. Even if she is a rabbit--even possessed as I was, I could see that. And perhaps that is what you see in her, too."

Glenn looked at his brother, completely confounded.

"Glenn, I can see it from a mile away. You're in love with her...and perhaps you are the first of a new breed. It is what I was learning to accept...before what happened."

"I see."

"So she may just pull out of this after all..."

"Victor...thank you..."

"No, Glenn, thank you. If not for you, I might have never been able to see the light. And I am truly sorry for what I have caused."

Rhiannon just snorted. "We'll see."

Victor just shook his head, then turned to his brother. "Anyway, I have some other news to tell you."

"What?"

"Well, you know that blight that's been spreading through our lands, right?"

"Yes. It was the same fifteen years ago."

"Well, it's certainly not some fluke. Some force is behind it."

"How do you know?"

"Just before I was possessed--this much I clearly remember--a couple of shadowy wolves attacked me. I was out investigating the cause of what was going on. It all started in the vicinity of my den..."

"We were attacked too..."

Victor nodded. "I remember going back home to Father to tell him what had happened--yes, even after all these years since my exile...and he said that was what happened years ago too...just before he had ended all hunting in our lands...and I was so blind back then..."

"I see..."

"When I went back out to find you..."

"That's when you were possessed."

"Right."

"You think it's the same force that possessed you?"

"That No Heart person that Take Care was talking about? I'd just about bet anything."

Glenn nodded. "But how are we going to fight him?"

Victor shrugged, then turned to Swift Heart. "I don't think we can alone, Glenn. He was powerful enough to take over my mind. Either one of us, he'd probably do the same. But her... I have this feeling that she's going to be our only hope."

Glenn sighed, turning his eyes back to the one he'd fallen so helplessly in love with--and now was equally helpless to do anything but watch over her. "I pray that you are right..." _I know you will too, but I can't do anything but watch. Just remember my love for you... _

* * *

(A/N: This is the beginning of the mental sequence)

_Where am I? _

Swift Heart took a glance around. She couldn't recognize where she was...it was dark and black all around her. In fact, all she was aware of was that she _was_ aware.

_Glenn? Rhiannon? Anyone? _

Nothing answered.

_The last thing I remember...some bolt of darkness hit me...and...just what is all this around me? _

_**You're trapped in your own mind. And you're not ever breaking out.**_

_Who are you? _Swift Heart asked, hearing herself even though she was sure she wasn't speaking out loud. _Telepathy...great. The one thing I had a hard time grasping._

_**Your worst nightmare. **_

_What's _that _supposed to mean? _

_**Why do you love him? **_

_Who? _

_**That wolf. He doesn't really care for you. After all, it's his fault you and your sister got separated.**_

_It wasn't him! _

_**It was his kind, Chrissie. Even your sister can see that. **_

_But at least she can accept that..._

_**Can you? **_

_Of course I can! _

_**Then why are you afraid?**_

_Afraid? I'm not afraid. _

_**Sure you're not. You're always looking over your shoulder, waiting for him to turn on you...**_

_I trust him..._

_**Do you really?**_

_I...okay, I admit I didn't at first. _

_**So I was right. **_

_Yes. _To her, there was nothing wrong with admitting the truth. She really was scared at first. _But I learned to trust him, and I even stood up to my own sister for him. And YOU aren't going to change that. _

_**We will see. **_

She called out mentally to the mystery voice again, but got no answer.

_What really did happen to me and Rhiannon? _

_**You really want to know? **_

_Yes. _

_**It really was as you know it was. A wolf chased you and your sister through the woods, and you two got separated. **_

_Yes, I know that. _

_**So, why now would you trust the very cause of your losses? Your pain? **_

Swift Heart lowered her head, contemplating. It was as if she was battling herself.

_Because..._

_**Because why? **_

_Because...because I love him. _

There was a laugh echoing in her thoughts...made more menacing by the fact this was on the _plane _of her thoughts.

_**Love him? How can you be so absurd? You and him are from two different worlds! **_

_I know..._

_**How can you really make yourself believe that? **_

_Because I do._

_**Heh...really. **_

She just nodded, as if her own feelings were giving her strength. Not enough to break out of this prison, though.

_I love him just as I do Rhiannon, and my family..._

_**Oh, so only a friend, huh? **_

_Well..._

_**How can it even be that? **_

_Because I believe in him..._

_**But you say you love him.**_

_I do! _

_**You hate his kind, though. **_

_I never said that. _

_**But you thought that. **_

Swift Heart closed her eyes and sighed. She wasn't going to give in to the anger of her darker thoughts..her doubts and fears.

_You're right, I did. A long, long time ago, when I was so much younger. But then I grew up a Care Bear Cousin. And I learned what it was to care for others. It allowed me to control and eventually defeat my anger...even when it crept up inside my being..._

_**I am your anger, Chrissie. Your darkness, your hatred. **_

_And my doubts, I know. _

_**Huh? **_

_I know what you are. _

_**It doesn't matter. You don't have the strength to break the spell on you anyway. **_

_I have more than you will ever know. And it's time to show you that. _

_**You can't beat me.**_

_I have once before, and I will again. _

_**You didn't beat me...you just hid me inside. **_

_Maybe that is true. But, now is the time to put an end to this. _

_**Very well, then...give me your best shot! **_

A shadowy figure crept into her awareness, and suddenly a great circle of light shone around them.

Swift Heart turned to face it, and shook her head. _No big surprise. you look just like me. _

_**That's because I AM you. **_

_We'll just see about that, _Swift Heart replied, bracing as she called forth her Care Bear Cousin Call.

**_Silly girl, haven't you forgotten I can do all that you can? Only darker, _**her mirror image replied as its own tummy symbol--a dark reflection of hers--started to glow with black energy.

She was quicker on the draw, too, a gout of darklight blazing into Swift Heart as she was thrown backward. Swift Heart stood and shook her head to clear it.

_**Did you think you could beat me that easily? **_

_I will still win. _

**_You're too weak, _**her mirror replied as she let forth another blaze of energy, this one only grazing her but still enough to send her slamming into the ground.

She just managed to roll out of the way of a third shot. _It's as if she knows exactly what I'm going to do before I do it! _

_**I can read your thoughts, Chrissie. Like I said, I am you. **_

Another blast hit Swift Heart, square and true. She slumped to the floor of the mentally created arena.

_It can't end like this..._

_**It will. And you will be here forever...**_

Swift Heart could only watch as her darker image started to charge up another blast. She closed her eyes as it fired off--

then opened them again as it bounced off a shield of pure rainbow light.

_**How did you do that? **_

Swift Heart stood up, if a bit woozily. _I don't know...but I'll take that as a good sign. _She charged up her Call and let loose...this time getting in her first strike.

_**AAAARRRGH...you will NEVER defeat me! **_

Swift Heart stood and faced her nemesis--just as she did Victor in the forest. _Maybe I won't. But I'm not going to go down with a whimper. I'm going to give it everything I have..._

_**You don't have enough to beat me. **_

_Still...I have to..._

This seemed to enrage her dark side as a blast of blackness hit her. Then another, and another...until it seemed as though she was being lanced with a stream of pure hatred.

_**YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE! **_

_Glenn...I'm sorry..._

Twin lances of light severed the river of raw darkness that slammed into Swift Heart.

_**What? **_

Another ethereal form made itself known in the darkness of her mind. _You need not worry, my child._

_Mom? _

_Yes..._

_But...how? _

_I cannot explain, and my time is short. All I can say is that your love called me here. _

_How did you...? _

_Love is a powerful force, Chrissie. It conquers all._

_**It cannot conquer me...**_

The spirit turned to face Swift Heart's dark image. _It can and it will._

She then turned to Swift Heart.

_Call upon that love now. That of your family, your friends...even your mate. And yes, I know of him. Your father would have been proud..as am I. But I must go._

_Thank you..._

With those words, the spirit of her mother left.

_**Foolish...as if mere love could defeat me...**_

She started to charge up again...just as pure light lanced into her.

_**NOOOOOOO**_

_Yes..I know now what will defeat you. The one thing you do not have. The love and support of others. They are counting on me, as I do on them. _

The dark energy shot out to meet it...but was slowly pushed back.

_Not this time..._

_**GRRRRRR**_

Her darker side pushed more and more hatred into her Dark Call, but even so it was steadily being forced back towards its source.

_**THIS CANNOT BE! **_

_It is. _She closed her eyes, pouring everything she had into her Call, taking all that she had. _My friends, my family...even you, Glenn...I need your love...your strength...your caring..._

_**ARRRRRRGH! **_

_This is the end for you...now go back to the shadows that spawned you...CARE BEAR COUSIN CALL! _

With those words, a great blast of pure caring energy, easily twice as wide as she was tall, speared forth from her tummy symbol, pushing through the Dark Call as though it wasn't there, smashing into her dark image...and completely erasing it from existence.

Swift Heart dropped to her knees, completely drained. _I did it...but I couldn't have done it without the love of everyone else around me...don't totally understand it, though...a battle in my own head? Magic...I swear I'm never gonna get it..._

Her eyes closed as everything started to disappear around her in a great light until----

* * *

---her eyes slowly opened again. This time, in the real world.

"Ugh...where am I?" she whispered. "And who's playing bongo drums on my head?"

"Chrissie!" Rhiannon and Glenn exclaimed. "You're back..."

"Yeah...I guess I am." she replied, then got up and caught Glenn in a bear hug.

"My...aren't we..." Victor started to say.

"Glenn, I'm so sorry...for ever doubting you."

"Chrissie, you don't have to be."

"But I did...I let my own doubts and fears get the better of me...I shouldn't have put you through that..."

"It's all right..."

"I love you...and I'm sorry I didn't say that from the start. I...I don't ever want you to leave my side...please."

"I won't, Chrissie. I won't."

She didn't give him too much time to say anything else, just pulled him down into a long kiss.

"Wow..." Take Care Bear announced. "I guess I can say you're okay now, huh, Swift Heart?"

She broke the kiss, if a bit reluctantly, and snuggled herself into Glenn's arms. "For the most part. Anyway, don't we still have a mission to complete?"

Victor nodded. "It's time to settle the score with this No Heart person. He's the cause of all this, after all."

Swift Heart nodded. "Yeah, we need to." She then looked up at Glenn.

"So, what's making you all affectionate all of a sudden?" he asked.

"Because it was your love...your belief in me, and in what we could be, against all the differences...that's what pulled me through. I still don't understand everything, though. Guess that's why I'm not an expert in magic. But I know what love is..."

"Well...it was also in no small part due to your own will, Chrissie."

"I know. But...I was still scared and lonely...I needed you...and you came through. Maybe not physically, but your love was there."

"I see. Still, shouldn't you give some credit to the others?"

She nodded. "They were there too. But you most of all."

"I see..."

"Glenn...when this is all said and done...will you come back with me?"

"Chrissie..."

"Please?"

"I'll think about it."

"Okay, Because I don't want to lose you, ever again."

He smiled back at her. "Truthfully, I don't want to lose you either." He leaned down to return her earlier kiss with an equal passion. "All right...I'll go back with you...if your family will have me..."

"I'm sure they will."

"So, when do we head off to do battle?"

"Anxious?"

"Chrissie, whoever did this to you will pay. I'm not going to lose you again."

"Be careful..."

"I'll try."

"Should we go now, or wait til the morning?" Rhiannon interrupted.

"Now would be as good a time to go as any. Besides, the longer we wait, the more chances we give No Heart to wreak havoc on us." Victor answered.

Swift Heart nodded, starting on her own way out, thoughts scrambling about in her mind--now that it was hers again and she wasn't a prisoner in it.

_Why was my mother there? And how did I get such power? Yes, I know the power of love..but...wow. I guess it'll all come together when it's supposed to. _

(A/N: The idea for a battle in the subconscious mind came from Lunar 2. Just so ya know where I found the concept. Anyone who's played it knows what I'm talking about.

And for those who haven't figured it out or are just confused, Chrissie is Swift Heart's given birth name in this story. Rhiannon hasn't known her by any other name, so she calls her that.)


	6. Chapter 6

Morning came and the four companions found themselves spread out wherever they lay.

"Mmm…morning already?" Swift Heart inquired, sleepily, her head resting on Glenn's chest.

"Is it?" the wolf answered, turning his head to gaze outside. "I guess so."

Ten feet behind him, his brother rose to his feet and stretched. "Morning…and it finds us sleeping, when we should be on our way to vanquish our foe…"

"Hey, now, I could use ten more minutes sleep…" Rhiannon asked. "I wonder what happened to everyone else?"

"Everyone else?" Glenn asked. "I think it's just us four."

"Nah, see, you forget, this is MY house. My family is here too…" She peered around a corner. "And since we all took over the bedroom, they're sleeping out in the living area."

"What about Take Care?" Swift Heart asked.

"She must've went back home…"

"Actually, I'm right here," the magenta furred bear replied. "I was taking a shower. I swear…you all sleep like rocks."

"I guess we do, if we didn't see you or hear you." Swift Heart replied. "But it's nice to know you stayed."

"Well, I did because _someone _in this mission needs to take care of you all. Just in case…," She let her voice trail off a bit at that.

"Actually…" Victor replied. "I _do _know how to help the wounded…"

"Oh really? And tell me, Victor, can you take care of any one of us if something happens like just happened to Swift Heart?"

"Well…no….but…."

"All right then. You'll need me. Although it's nice to know I'd have some help if I needed it."

Victor just shook his head. Glenn laughed at the sight.

"I guess something good did come out of all of this. You seem to have lost your 'better-than-everyone' attitude, brother."

"Must be some side effect of whatever it was that Swift Heart used on me."

Glenn nodded. "Perhaps. Definitely a change for the better."

"Regardless, we must be going. There's no telling when we'll be attacked again."

"Right. And I don't want it to be so close to the kids…" Rhiannon added, gesturing to the two balls of fur—one reddish furred like her, one blue like her sister—sleeping in the living room.

"Yeah, you're right. Better that No Heart doesn't use them as pawns or something."

Victor nodded, realizing just how easily he himself was taken over by darkness. "First place we can check is with my father. That is…"

"I'm sure he'll allow us on the lands, brother." Glenn interrupted.

"Right. Anyway, perhaps he'll have some clue where No Heart is doing his dirty work. And just maybe, we can stop it."

Glenn nodded. "Are we prepared, though, if he attacks us on the way?"

"Well…at least I'm not all alone if we do…" Swift Heart added. "Not that I don't have faith in you all, but No Heart's Shadows can't be beaten with just force alone. It's nice to have another of the Care Bears along with us…we're the only ones that can turn them back."

"Right." Take Care Bear added.

"So if they attack, and somehow take out one of y'all, " Rhiannon added, "we're in a bind."

"Pretty much, it seems." Victor answered. "Half our attack is reduced."

"Well, let's hope that it doesn't come down to that. Let's go."

By afternoon, they had returned to the site of the earlier battle.

"It's kinda strange, coming back to this place…" Swift Heart noted.

"Yes…considering last time we weren't traveling together…" Victor added. "You were running for your life…"

"Yes, yes…" she shot back, idly, her mind not really there…just looking back.

"Something wrong?"

"No…not really…I just didn't expect to be back here so soon…" She shuddered a tiny bit, remembering just how close she was to being beaten by her own inner doubts and fears.

Her eyes fell upon the boulder where she'd come to rest that fateful hour, just so soon before. "I…I just don't know…"

"Chrissie…" Glenn started to say.

"It's not you, Glenn…it's me. Yeah, I know, I came out of it all just fine…and I believe in you…all of you really, but _you _most of all….but still…it was so close."

"I understand…" he answered. Clearly, though, even though she'd pulled through that fight and was now able to travel with them, she was very much shaken.

"You must have had quite a time."

She nodded. "I did. And almost didn't make it out. Glenn, I had to face a part of me I never really knew existed."

"What is that?"

"The darker side of me. The side that is very much capable of hate, and fear, and darkness…All my life, I've grown up thinking it wasn't possible…but that all changed."

"And your faith is shaken…"

"Very much so."

"And now, returning to that very spot, you find that the simple knowledge that you made it through that ordeal—and the triumph that accompanies that knowledge--is now being replaced by the very real possibility it could happen again…"

"Yeah. And wondering if this time, I could make it out."

"I see. Well, I for one believe in you. I believe that if you found yourself there fifty times, fifty times you would pull through."

"I know you do, Glenn. And I believe in you." _But, do I believe in myself, _was her unspoken question.

Glenn nodded, then paused as a scent once again wafted on the air. This one, though, was familiar. Very familiar, in fact.

"Just what has happened here?" a voice called out—a voice very commanding, almost royal.

"Father?"

"Glenn? Is that you?"

"Yes. But why have you come all the way out here?"

"Where are you?"

"Right here," the voice answered. Amazingly, he'd gotten all the way to his side without even being detected.

_Pretty easy to see why he's their leader…,_ Swift Heart thought as she laid eyes for the first time on the leader of Glenn's pack. She blushed a moment as a thought came to mind. _Wonder just what'd he'd think of me…_

The alpha male of Glenn's pack looked to his son, as well as his companions. "And just who have you brought with you?"

Glenn nodded, then gestured to his companions, each in turn. "These are my friends…Swift Heart Rabbit, and her companion, Take Care Bear. The other with us is Rhiannon…her sister…and I believe my brother needs no introduction…"

"No, he does not…and although we have not seen eye to eye, I am pleased that you and him have finally settled your differences."

Victor nodded. "I owe that, in part, to Swift Heart, Father. She managed to free me from the evil that taken over my spirit….though it came at some cost to herself."

She nodded. "And we haven't got much time. The wizard that had controlled him is the same responsible for what's happening to the land around here…and I have a feeling he's going to strike again."

The elder wolf nodded, fixing his gaze on Swift Heart and her sister. "Somehow…you two seem oddly familiar…"

"We do?"

"Yes…like a distant memory…"

"I see."

Rhiannon blinked, then gazed back at him in disbelief. "So do you…"

"Do I now?"

"Yes…" She tapped her chin in thought, as if trying to put the pieces together…then her eyes opened. Wide.

"You're the same one that chased us….all those years ago…."

The wolf looked at her and Swift Heart for a long, long time. Then finally, he nodded. "Yes…I remember now."

"So, it was you…" Rhiannon gasped, still in shock, her mind a whirlwind of thoughts.

"Yes." The wolf lowered himself so that his eyes met hers.

Rhiannon found that gaze quite disconcerting…and yet, also a flicker of remorse.

"You have every right to fear me, Rhiannon…and to hate me. I wouldn't blame you. But, you should know that because of that day, we haven't hunted a living thing since."

"I…." Her mind was still reeling, and she closed her eyes, if only to regain her composure. Then, finally, she spoke.

"Two, maybe three days ago, I would have hated you with everything I had. But I have learned much in such a short time. And, your son was part of the reason that my sister is here now."

"Is that so?"

"Yes…" She lowered her eyes, still not sure to say. _Since that day I've waited for this very moment…for the time where all my questions would be answered..for the time I would take my vengeance for all that was taken from me…and yet now, I can't raise a hand to him. It's all very, very strange…_

"You have a great deal of courage, Rhiannon. But I still see the emotion smoldering in your eyes. Anger is not such an easy emotion to erase. But, in time, it will fade."

She could only nod her head.

The wolf then turned to Swift Heart. "And I surmise you have some of that within you as well…"

"Once upon a time, I did. And only recently realized it was there. " Her blue eyes met his brown ones.

"But…I have had to go deep within myself…to find the strength to overcome those fears and doubts…and I really mean overcome them, not just sweep them under the rug."

"I see."

"And it wasn't easy. You see, I was raised to show goodness and love in all things. No one—most of all myself—would have suspected that those feelings were locked away deep in my heart."

The elder nodded, glancing to her tummy symbol. "Just what sort of marking is that?"

"Oh…yeah, I almost forgot. Me and Take Care Bear over there are members of the Care Bear Family. We spread love and goodwill among the people of the Earth. Mostly, children and such…but sometimes the adults need it too."

"And what meaning does it have?"

_Never really gave that too much thought over my lifetime, _Swift Heart thought to herself, then did her best to answer his question.

Amazingly enough, it was the same thought she'd had. "I haven't really thought about what it meant…"

"I see. Maybe, one day, you will understand its meaning."

She nodded. "Anyway…what have you been able to find about what's happening?"

"It's getting worse. Already it has spread too close to where our pups are being raised. I fear before too long we may be forced to abandon these lands…"

"But, Father, we have held these lands for countless years!" Glenn exclaimed.

"Yes, I know. But we cannot stay where we cannot survive, my son."

"We have to do something…"

His father nodded. "Yes…but what can we do? These are forces I have no idea how to contend against, Glenn. I am no magician."

"Perhaps we can help." Swift Heart answered.

The elder looked at her, astonished. "It is much to ask of you….after all that has happened."

Swift Heart shook her head. "It's what I do. Besides, I owe Glenn for pulling me through something…"

"I see."

"And even if I didn't, I'd still do it."

"Well, if she's going to help y'all..." Rhiannon spoke, "then you better count me in too."

"And I have much to atone for, " Victor added. "I'm going to do my part. "

"Well…you all need a doctor. I'm in." Take Care Bear replied.

"You guys…" Swift Heart answered back.

"We're all in this together, sis," Rhiannon interrupted. "We're family."

"I know…"

Suddenly, a lightning bolt split the air nearby.

"How touching…" a sinister voice spoke. "But a motley bunch like you cannot defeat the all powerful No Heart…"

"It's…" Victor exclaimed.

"Well, duh…like he needed an introduction. He did us that favor already." Rhiannon shot back.

Glenn's father turned to face the evil wizard. "Be gone from my lands, foul demon. Or face my wrath."

The laugh that he got in response was as cold as the winter snows. "And just how much do you think your 'wrath' can do to me?"

"We will see…" he spoke—then charged forward.

The wizard's eyes flashed and two shadow wolves took positions at either side of him, then they charged at the elder.

"What manner of sorcery…" he exclaimed as he was suddenly pushed on the defensive.

Swift Heart shouted over to her Care Bear companion. "Take Care, you keep those wolves off Glenn and the others. I'll take No Heart and keep him distracted."

"Will you be okay?"

"Just do this for me, ok?"

"All right…be careful, Swift Heart."

No Heart laughed again. "I have a little something for you, Swift Heart. Or should I say…_someone. _"

Again his eyes flashed, and from a mist of darkness came someone she thought vanquished.

"Hello again," the figure spoke, her voice—as Swift Heart knew very well who she was—dark and sinsiter.

"This….can't be…"

"Oh, but it is, it is….and this time I will succeed where I should have finished you off."

Swift Heart gazed once again upon her dark image. This time, the battle was real, as was the cost if she lost.

"I beat you once, I'll do it again," she snarled before she fired off a Call.

Her dark image shot back with a Dark Call of her own, the two energy beams colliding and cancelling each other out.

"How could you?" Swift Heart gasped, astonished.

"Oh come now, do you think I would have bothered to fight you again without enhancing my own abilities in the process?"

Swift Heart didn't answer, just fired back again. "That doesn't make you stronger than me…"

"Except this time your dear mommy can't save you. This isn't on the battlefield of your mind, dear Chrissie. This time it's real and personal."

For a moment, she paused, knowing that moment where the spirit of her mother intervened was the turning point in that fight.

That pause very nearly proved to be her undoing as a Dark Call grazed her side. She shook it off and fired back once more.

_She's right..., _Swift Heart thought as she dodged to and fro. _If not for her…_

Suddenly, twin bolts of lightning erupted in front of her and she skidded to a halt. Not fast enough to avoid a root sticking out of the ground, and she tripped over it, falling to the ground with a shout.

"Chrissie?" Glenn asked, fending off one strike after another from the shadow beasts that were attacking him and the others.

"Ha ha ha…and I'm going to see to it this time that she does beat you, Swift Heart." No Heart bellowed from his perch on a tree stump.

Unfortunately for him, he didn't see as Victor blindsided him with a full body charge.

"YOU!" he screamed. "I will have my revenge…for all that you have caused…"

Meanwhile, Swift Heart was having problems of her own. _I think I twisted my knee on that one, _she thought, pain shooting through her right leg.

"Heh heh…can't move nearly as fast now can you? That gives me the advantage, hm?" she mused, firing off a Dark Call that hit Swift Heart broadside.

"Owww…" Swift Heart grimaced, trying to fight back the negative energies that coursed through her smallish form. Not to mention the needles of pain that were making their way up her injured leg.

Meanwhile, No Heart had thrown Victor off of him. "Fool….now you will pay for your insolence…" the wizard growled as he called forth a lightning storm.

Victor jumped back steadily, trusting his reflexes to save him as one bolt, then another struck the ground, hammering out craters where they landed.

"Is that the best you can do?" Victor shot back, risking a glance behind him, realizing he was getting much too close to the others that he was protecting.

A bolt shot out, its target behind him. Victor spun around to see where it was going—just in time to watch a bolt of incandescence collide with it, rendering it harmless.

"Nice shot, Take Care."

"Thanks," she replied, just as another bolt shot towards her.

Victor charged at a flat out run, knowing she'd never be in time to deflect this shot, not even sure he himself would be able to do anything.

_This is my atonement, Father…_he thought as he turned himself into the bolt and took the charge full in the chest.

"Victor!" Glenn shouted, rushing over to his brother's side, literally trampling the shadow wolf that he was fighting on his way there, where he lay, barely moving and obviously in pain.

"Glenn…protect the others…there isn't anything you can do for me now…" Victor whispered through gritted teeth.

"I…."

"Just go, Glenn! They need you more than they need me…"

"Brother…"

"Glenn…she needs you too…"

"I know, but…"

Take Care Bear made her way over to the two brothers. "I'll tend to him and see what I can do…"

"Thanks…"

"Don't mention it…" she said, then took out her medical bag and went rummaging through it, quickly as she was able in the middle of a fight.

"That was….brave of you, Victor," she said as she tended to his most serious wounds, patching them up as best as she knew how.

"I…I just did what I had to do…to atone for what I did wrong."

"Shhh….don't talk so much. Try to save your strength."

Victor nodded his head weakly.

"You saved my life, though…I don't think I would have been able to stop that one."

He turned his gaze to her, nodding again, then lay his head down.

"Thank you…let's see here…" she mused. Fortunately, Glenn was doing a fair enough job of keeping the remaining shadow wolf at bay, and No Heart seemed more occupied with watching the battle between Swift Heart and her darker half to pay them much attention.

Not that she was going to give him much of a chance to strike back. She quickly used her Stare to erect a protective barrier in front of them while she worked. It'd be enough to hold back a few shots from No Heart—perhaps long enough to allow her to do something—but if someone didn't stop him, it wouldn't last forever.

Swift Heart, on the other hand, was struggling just to stay in this fight.

"I…can't move my leg…" she groaned, barely even able to roll over to defend herself with her own Call.

"It's done now…this time you aren't going to beat me."

Her dark side charged up her tummy symbol, ready to deal the final blow—when she was tackled from behind by a charging red-furred blur.

"You ain't getting her today, you witch…." Rhiannon growled as she found her feet.

"Oh, look here…it's the big sister. Like you're even a match for me…"

"Rhiannon…don't…she's too strong for you…."

She didn't take her gaze off of the dark image of her sister. "Chrissie…I gotta do something."

"Heh…hit me with your best shot….oh, that's right, you can't." She laughed, an inhuman and calculating laugh, and fired off her Dark Call.

Rhiannon took it head on…and dug her paws into the ground as it threatened to push her backwards.

"Rhiannon…"

"Chrissie…I…am…not….gonna….lose…." she grunted through her teeth as she struggled to gain ground against the river of darkness pounding her.

Swift Heart dragged herself to her feet, gingerly placing weight on her injured leg. She couldn't run from this fight, even if she wanted to.

She tried to concentrate...and found herself trying her hardest not to cry out against the pain that ravaged her side. In addition to her knee, she'd taken quite a beating from her darker side.

_I don't know how much longer I can hold up against this….but I have to. _

"No you're not going to, sis…" she whispered, and summoned all the inner strength she possessed to fire off a Call into the back of her foe.

Enraged, her mirror form turned to face her. "How dare you!"

Swift Heart poured more and more into it, but eventually, her pain got the better of her and she slumped to the ground. You can't beat her." Swift Heart warned her sister as another Dark Call slammed into her.

"Chrissie…" she replied, then charged again and tackled her nemesis once again.

The impact threw the dark rabbit aside a good ten feet, and left her disoriented for a moment…just long enough to allow Rhiannon to stand by her sister's side.

"I can't let her just win, sis…"

"Rhiannon…she's more powerful than you think she is. She has the same powers I do…only they're dark. Against her Dark Call, you don't stand a chance…"

"I don't care, Chrissie. I'm not going to lose you again."

Purple lightning bracketed where the two of them stood, reminding Swift Heart that No Heart hadn't quite left this fight to his lackey.

"This tree won't protect you for long, Rhiannon…you get the others out of here…"

"No, Chrissie. I'm staying right here."

"Rhiannon, you can't fight them both!"

"That's right, you silly rabbit…, " a voice answered. "You can't beat me."

Rhiannon spun around just in time to catch another Dark Call head on. She grunted and put all of her will and strength into keeping it from blasting her backwards.

"How can you possess such strength? You're not even a Care Bear…"

"I don't have to be to care for my family…I just have to fight….and I will find a way to beat you…."

"You can't possibly hope to win against me…"

"Grrr….but for Chrissie…my family…my friends…for all I stand for and all she stands for, I will find a way!"

The dark image let off another Dark Call. Rhiannon was caught almost unprepared for it and nearly took it full force…only to watch a bolt of light slam into it.

Amazingly enough, it didn't come from Swift Heart. And Take Care was still tending to Victor.

Swift Heart's dark image was the first to notice—and her eyes were wide as marbles. "This can't be! How did you….?"

Rhiannon didn't make the connection herself—that is, until she glanced down at her own patch of white tummy fur.

Squarely in the middle of it was a heart. Within that heart was another heart with tiny wings on either side.

"I…."

"Rhiannon….how did you?" Swift Heart noted in pure astonishment.

"I don't know, Chrissie. I just don't know."

No Heart gazed at her with unmitigated hatred. "No matter….even if you are a Care Bear Cousin, I can still finish you off…," he growled and sent forth a pair of lightning bolts, just as his dark servant fired off a Dark Call.

It was a perfect attack, leaving her nowhere to run, and if she did her sister would be in danger.

It also ran squarely into a blast of pure light and vanished.

"How could you? HOW CAN YOU BE SO POWERFUL!" No Heart bellowed.

"My belief makes me strong….believing in my family, my friends, those I care about, and those I love. But most of all, believing in myself." Rhiannon answered, glaring defiantly at the dark wizard.

"GRRRR…."

Swift Heart stood up and faced her dark nemesis once more. "It's time to end this, once and for all….

"Face it, Swift Heart….I'm just too powerful for you."

"For me, maybe. But not for both of us. It's over…."

"No…."

Swift Heart nodded, focusing all of her energies into one single, powerful Call. "Ready, sis?"

Rhiannon nodded, following her sister's lead, her aim shifted on No Heart. "Ready."

"CARE BEAR COUSIN CALL!" both shouted in unison.

Twin streams of incandescence slammed into their targets.

Both evildoers screamed in rage as they were shoved backwards, the dark rabbit simply vanishing into nonexistence.

"GRRRR….You may have won the day, Care Bear…but I swear that I will destroy you, once and for all…," No Heart growled as he turned into a purple cyclone and vanished.

"That was a tough fight." Rhiannon noted as they gathered at her home.

"Was it ever. I still don't get it, though." Swift Heart replied, still in shock over the change that had come over her sister.

"I don't either, Chrissie. It was as if some energy coursed through me."

Take Care Bear interjected. "I think it's the first case we've ever had."

"Case of what?" Rhiannon answered.

"Well, all us Care Bears know that our tummy symbols are granted to us through the Great Wishing Star. But yours, you seemed to have gotten yours spontaneously."

"I still don't understand."

"Neither do I, Rhiannon. But maybe we can all go to Care-A-Lot and get some sort of explanation."

"That'd help."

"Anyway, are we ready?"

"Wait…before you all go…" the wolf elder spoke. "I want to extend my gratitude to all of you….for your help to our people."

"Thank you, Father," Glenn replied.

"Now, you must all be off. I pray that I will see you all again soon."


	7. Epilogue

In Care-A-Lot, Swift Heart and her companions were greeted with much celebration.

"Hey, we heard you beat No Heart…" Tenderheart Bear said, patting Swift Heart on the back. "Good job."

"Yeah, we did….but I couldn't have done it alone."

"We know." True Heart Bear replied. "Many thanks go to your companions too."

"It is we who are in your debt, True Heart." Victor spoke. "If not for your help, we would have never saved our own lands."

"Well, we still have much to talk about."

"Yes, we do."

"And we have our newest member to welcome…"

"Yeah, we do. Although we talked it over and she's decided to go back to her home. She figures she can do more good there than she could here. And she has a family of her own to raise."

"Has she chosen a name yet?"

"I think so."

"What is it?"

"Free Heart Rabbit. She feels that's more true to her spirit."

"Well, we agree. That's the name she'll go by, then."

"She'll always be Rhiannon to me, though."

"We understand. What of your companions?"

"Well, Victor is going to be staying here, at least temporarily. Take Care thinks he needs some more work before she could say he was totally healed."

"Understandable. And what of his brother?"

"Well…he wants to stay here with me…although truthfully, I want to go back to Earth, at least for a while. I need to get back in touch with my roots."

"If that's what you think is best, Swift Heart, then do it. We've always supported you, no matter what it is you choose to do."

Swift Heart nodded, then sighed. "And I need some time to discover who I really am. I've had to face the dark side of me. Now I need to figure out how to restore the balance."

"I see."

"But Glenn has one more request before we go…"

"And that is?"

"He wants to join the Care Bear Family."

True Heart nodded. "He's definitely earned the privilege." She turned and walked over to Glenn. "Is this something you truly want, Glenn?"

"Yes."

"You know what it means, do you?"

"Yes."

"Very well then." She called to her mate. "Noble Heart? Will you do the honor?"

"My pleasure, " the equine founder of the Care Bear Cousins answered. "Glenn, stand before me."

Glenn nodded and walked over to Noble Heart.

"Glenn, from this day forth, you shall be known to the Care Bear Family as Silver Heart Wolf." He held out one hand and a silver heart appeared on his tummy fur.

"Thank you, Noble Heart."

"It is I who should be thanking you, Silver Heart. If not for your help I don't think Swift Heart would have ever made it back."

"I think she's pretty tough herself."

"But her overconfidence gets the better of her. She needs people to stand by her."

"And I do."

"I know you do." True Heart looked to her with a twinkle in her eye, as though she knew the depth of just how much he stood by her. "Take care of her now."

"I will."

"And you two come back soon, okay?"

"We will."

A few weeks later, Victor was in Take Care Bear's office, laying on a table.

"Well, this shouldn't take too much longer…then you can go back home."

"Nice to know that…" he said, sighing just a tiny bit.

"What's the matter?"

"I don't know….been giving a little thought to staying around here for a while…"

"Kinda grows on you after a while, doesn't it?"

"Yeah. You sound like you know."

"I was a wanderer too, before the Care Bear Family took me in. They needed a doctor, I needed a place to settle down. So here I am."

"Yeah…"

"You'll be fine…"

"Yup."

"You sound like you'd really be unhappy returning home, huh…"

"Maybe."

The doctor just chuckled. "Don't tell me you've grown used to my company for this long."

Victor just turned to glance at her.

The bear's eyes widened a bit. "I…well…that was a joke…"

"Want an honest answer to that?" Victor replied.

"Well…I wouldn't expect you to lie…"

"Yes."

"I see." She just chuckled and shook her head. "Most don't."

"First time for everything."

"Indeed."

"There's a world of possibilities out there…"

"I know."

"Maybe my calling is here."

"Maybe," the doctor replied, looking away.

"Now _you're _the one there appears to be something wrong with…"

"Me? No, nothing wrong…" she stammered.

"Seems like I'm not the only one that's grown too comfortable with your company, eh, Take Care?"

"Well….uh…." she blushed, then shook her head. _"_Nope, you're not the only one, Truth be told I was kinda wishing you'd stay a while, too."

The wolf just smiled. "Perhaps I will."

She nodded, then patted the top of his head. "Lay down, ok?"

He nodded, and did as he was told.

She hopped onto the table beside him and lay her head on his shoulder.

"What the…?"

She touched her paw to his muzzle. "Shhh…I know it's crazy, but….just let me, for a moment, okay?"

"All right…."

A moment passed…then two….then three…and many more…before Victor reached up to pat her gently. "Uh, Take Care?"

"Mm-mm…..let me lay here a bit longer…" she whispered.

"Getting too attached?" Victor mused.

"Maybe…and yes, I know a doctor shouldn't get TOO attached to their patient…but then again, you're not just an ordinary patient…."

"I know, I know…"

"Most everyone else that comes in here, I know like brothers and sisters. You're different, somehow."

"Yeah…But shouldn't we…?"

"Why do you think I wanted you to stay? Because we aren't going to be doctor and patient forever…you know…."

"I know that…" He didn't feel entirely comfortable with her laying on his shoulder like that…but then again, he didn't want her to stop.

"After this is all done…when you're all better…perhaps I want to know you for you."

"Maybe you will…"

"I must be embarrassing you a bit, aren't I?" she blushed.

"Eh, I just wasn't expecting it, that's all." Victor stammered. _Just a little strong, isn't she? I suppose I understand her, though. _

_Truth be told I kind of wanted her to. Maybe that's part of what drove me to take that bolt. That and I knew no one else could have helped her in time. _

"Hey, Take Care?"

"Yes?"

"Maybe after we get done with this session, we could go out to the park or something? I mean, I want to know you too….just not in a place like this. I mean, in the doctor's office."

"I'd love that."

"I don't mind the affection either…really, I don't."

She blushed. "Guess I got carried away."

"A little. But to be honest, I wanted it."

"All right."

So, in the end, Swift Heart and Silver Heart wound up together, Rhiannon became Free Heart Rabbit—the first Care Bear Cousin to spontaneously gain her abilities—and Victor and Take Care Bear began dating…though where that goes, is anyone's guess.

But sometimes what you get is the one thing you least expect.

**THE END**

(A/N: Yeah, I know the sequence between Victor and Take Care Bear is cause for some head scratching…which is why I wrote it into the epilogue. Perhaps it's another adventure for another story.)


End file.
